Downloads Wednesday
Microsoft previewed the New Xbox Experience, NXE, at a major game-industry event in the summer. It will be downloaded to Xbox 360 consoles connected to the Internet beginning Wednesday.
Whitten said it is a substantial rewrite of the code that runs the game console, making it more flexible and taking better advantage of the Web.
From a design standpoint, the focus of NXE is on "simplicity and approachability and on really being this social-meeting portal in the living room," Whitten said.
To start, new visual guides and menus introduce the console's capabilities and help users to connect to the Internet — something that has been challenging in the past, Whitten said — and to set up an account on Xbox Live.
Whitten said it is a substantial rewrite of the code that runs the game console, making it more flexible and taking better advantage of the Web.
From a design standpoint, the focus of NXE is on "simplicity and approachability and on really being this social-meeting portal in the living room," Whitten said.
To start, new visual guides and menus introduce the console's capabilities and help users to connect to the Internet — something that has been challenging in the past, Whitten said — and to set up an account on Xbox Live.
Visual presentation
The emphasis on visual presentation permeates the new interface, with much less text than the console software has currently.
The video- and games-marketplace channels, for instance, allow you to scroll through box-art images rather than a text-based list of titles.
The NXE incorporates new "avatars," animated characters similar to the "Miis" users make on the Nintendo Wii.
The Xbox avatars — which can be customized with millions of combinations of body types, hairstyles, clothes and other attributes — expand on Gamertags that players use to identify themselves and track their achievements.
They will also be an individual's visual representation in friends lists, online chats and parties and certain games. When a friend is not online, his avatar appears to be sleeping.
Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Kirkland-based independent research firm Directions on Microsoft, said the update helps avoid a risk Microsoft faced with the Xbox: packing it so full of features that it became another PC in the home, rather than a fun, approachable game — something Nintendo nailed with the Wii.
With the update, the Xbox 360 looks "less geeky and more entertaining," he said.
The video- and games-marketplace channels, for instance, allow you to scroll through box-art images rather than a text-based list of titles.
The NXE incorporates new "avatars," animated characters similar to the "Miis" users make on the Nintendo Wii.
The Xbox avatars — which can be customized with millions of combinations of body types, hairstyles, clothes and other attributes — expand on Gamertags that players use to identify themselves and track their achievements.
They will also be an individual's visual representation in friends lists, online chats and parties and certain games. When a friend is not online, his avatar appears to be sleeping.
Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Kirkland-based independent research firm Directions on Microsoft, said the update helps avoid a risk Microsoft faced with the Xbox: packing it so full of features that it became another PC in the home, rather than a fun, approachable game — something Nintendo nailed with the Wii.
With the update, the Xbox 360 looks "less geeky and more entertaining," he said.
Different user profile
The mainstream users Microsoft is hoping to draw into the fold may have a different buying profile than hard-core gamers.
Microsoft has regularly touted the "attach rate" for its consoles: the average number of games purchased for each console sold.
Last month it was 8.1, ahead of its competitors. It's an important statistic because most of the industry's profits come from games, and consoles tend to lose money, particularly early in their life cycle.
But the mainstream consumer "is far less voracious when it comes to the game content," Pidgeon said.
However, that person is likely an additional user of the Xbox in a household that already has one, and maybe another console.
That could increase Microsoft's revenue per console because the new user — a mom, perhaps — buys video content and online games for herself, and she becomes more familiar with the console and more comfortable buying Xbox games for her kids.
Nintendo has been successful in this regard, attracting more people in each household to the Wii with approachable motion-sensing controllers.
"I'm more excited about that user," Pidgeon said.
Longer-term, Xbox Live could allow Microsoft to retain its users for the next-generation console.
"Xbox Live is overlooked as a separate platform at competitors' peril," Pidgeon said.
Sony has made substantial strides this year with its PlayStation Network.
Eric Lempel, director of network operations, said new-console registrations on the network have grown 136 percent this year. The company counts more than 14 million registered PSN accounts.
In 2008, Sony redesigned the PSN content store; allowed players to communicate with friends on the network without leaving games; added "trophies" (similar to the gamer scores and achievements long a part of Xbox Live); and launched a video-distribution service.
"Over this past year, we've done a lot of things to really bring our network into the next phase," Lempel said.
Before the end of the year, he said, Sony will open a test version of PlayStation Home, an online virtual world that will offer many social features.
He also pointed out that unlike Xbox Live, everything on the PlayStation Network and Home, except downloadable content and other accessories for Home, is free.
Microsoft has regularly touted the "attach rate" for its consoles: the average number of games purchased for each console sold.
Last month it was 8.1, ahead of its competitors. It's an important statistic because most of the industry's profits come from games, and consoles tend to lose money, particularly early in their life cycle.
But the mainstream consumer "is far less voracious when it comes to the game content," Pidgeon said.
However, that person is likely an additional user of the Xbox in a household that already has one, and maybe another console.
That could increase Microsoft's revenue per console because the new user — a mom, perhaps — buys video content and online games for herself, and she becomes more familiar with the console and more comfortable buying Xbox games for her kids.
Nintendo has been successful in this regard, attracting more people in each household to the Wii with approachable motion-sensing controllers.
"I'm more excited about that user," Pidgeon said.
Longer-term, Xbox Live could allow Microsoft to retain its users for the next-generation console.
"Xbox Live is overlooked as a separate platform at competitors' peril," Pidgeon said.
Sony has made substantial strides this year with its PlayStation Network.
Eric Lempel, director of network operations, said new-console registrations on the network have grown 136 percent this year. The company counts more than 14 million registered PSN accounts.
In 2008, Sony redesigned the PSN content store; allowed players to communicate with friends on the network without leaving games; added "trophies" (similar to the gamer scores and achievements long a part of Xbox Live); and launched a video-distribution service.
"Over this past year, we've done a lot of things to really bring our network into the next phase," Lempel said.
Before the end of the year, he said, Sony will open a test version of PlayStation Home, an online virtual world that will offer many social features.
He also pointed out that unlike Xbox Live, everything on the PlayStation Network and Home, except downloadable content and other accessories for Home, is free.
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